Saturday, February 2

Emotional Roller Coaster

Well, I know what your thinking with that photo, scary, poor child, why use a photo like that, well if you're still reading i will tell you.. The photo above is mine and my Ex partners oldest son,, he was born in Feb 1995, and will soon be turning 18 years old.. When he was born and a normal birth as far as they go, but won't go into detail, but 3 weeks later we hit a major medical issue.. He was diagnosed with Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) with a Ventricular Septum Defect (VSD)..known as TGA with VSD this was not picked up at birth due to the fact it was years ago and very old equipment.. he has a minor op called a balloon Septostomy and at 7.5 weeks ended up having Major Heart Surgery called an Arterial Switch Operation at GOSH and by a very good surgeon,, infact all the team at GOSH were fantastic then and still are.. The photo you see is our child (mine and Ex's) just hours after his operation,, he did very well and was home inside 10 days..
Yes it's very daunting having a child with a scar where he never had one before, or on meds, like how do you old them, bath them, feed them without hurting them ect, but i/we must have coped as parents...
in is life my/our son has had few cardiac issues, some minor proceedures since his major op but he has had check-up throughout his life and will do so, as he his now a adult he will be changing hospitals too, but we know where but not sure when, probably next year...
My/Our son has suffered some oxygen loss although no medic will say YES they say its possible, but this was pre-op... well as time went by he did as babies did, did as toddlers did but struggled as school, he ended up on a Statement of educational needs from the age of 7 and still has help at college although there no longer on a statement but there is something in place that the college do for him,, he did come out of school with 9 GCSE's at foundation level, he is a salior though does not anymore he passed all levels up to 4, he was able to row until he passed out but was given a change.. you see he had strenth due to the high amounts of oxygen in his blood..
But what he struggles with are, Reading, writing, short term memory, concentration, organisational skills, but he is got better just not what a 18 year old should be, there is also other personal issues not for blogging about so i wont..he also now has High BP, a leaking aortic valve and a murmur
he may only have the reading age of a 8-9 year old, it just does not go in, his memory does not help him with reading, his writing is about that of a 6 year old if i am honest... it takes years for his long term memory to kick in..
Also he has had to have 3 years of vision thereapy to help his eyes settle down, and also speech Therapy to help with his words ect I think he had therapy for 7 years in total..
He also have a problem with his boy bits shall we say and need a op he had what is called hypospadius repair for Hypospadius condition
But he is very good with his hands Manually, his a whizz at Lego, Knex, he is learning to be a carpenter now too and getting there.he could probably take a tractor appart as well and put it back together
He has done very well in his time at all the stuff he can do, he has made me a very proud mum but to think he has gone from that little tiny baby up above to this

Yes he may have been through the mill over the years, but it does not seem to have affected him other than a phobia to buttons.. he is a very quiet laid Chap who is very lovable and caring..
Just amazes me, that a little baby can grow so tall.. He is my world (as is his little brother) and i would not change anything about him either.. Just one very Proud Mum to a very special Son